Fast Facts & Tips

Money & Shopping

Get money out of ATM’s with your credit card. The convenience store 7-11 and post offices are a good bet. To save money, be sure your bank card does not charge exchange fees.

Have cash on hand as not all places take cards.

Pickpocketing is possible anywhere in the world, however, Japan is very safe and is the only country my husband felt safe carrying his wallet in his back pocket.

There is typically no bartering in Japan.

Dress

No dress code but more conservative dress seemed in style.

Yukata- a traditional Japanese robe tied together with a sash.

Food

Challenging for some in our family. Japanese food is clean and sparse. Their portions were not what us Americans are used to so we rarely felt full. We got used to it but after three days we broke down and went to an Italian pizza restaurant just to get full. Overall, my husband and I felt more “healthy” after eating the Japanese way.

For picky eaters, ramen is a good choice.

Japanese etiquette dictates that you can slurp your ramen.

Japanese dessert is very decorative and appears very appealing but looks can be deceiving sometimes.

Try the local beef. The best food item of the whole trip was a piece of sashimi with a thin raw piece of Hida beef and a dash of soy sauce on top in Takayama.

Lodging

Try staying in a ryokan-a traditional Japanese inn where you sleep on individual mattresses with tatami-matted floors, there are communal baths, you are provided a yukata to wear around the inn and a communal area where you eat or can commune with the owner and other travelers.